Brick-machine.



J. F UHLHORN.

BRICK MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 13110.?, 19077.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908. 2 SHEETS-SHEBT-l.

www.,

J. F. UHLHORN.

BRICK MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLEDpEo. '1, 1907.

Patented N0v.3,1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N'Il] o embodied my invention, is-the rotary mold power is applied through a suitable train of liners, and its bottom by a radially movable Cn i 3 and 4 are detail views on a larger scale and -cross section of a mold `which passes through and is vdial o ening in I JOHN F. UHLHORN,.OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Baron-Macmim.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

Application tiled December 7, 1907. Serial No. 406,594.I

To allwhom 'it 'may concern." I

Be it-known thatl I, JOHN F. UHLnoRN, of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Brick-Machines, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,"reference being had to the accompanyin drawings, in which-'- Figure 1 is a side e evation of a brick'machine embodying my invention portions of the machine being shown in section; Figs. 2,

in vertical section of portions of the brickforming mechanism; Fig. 5 is a detail view 'in and its cooperating die Fig. 6 a detail view in perspective of the delivery mechanism by which the brick may be loaded upon a car or other off-bearing device; Fig. 7a detail view in side elevation of the means for moving the car step by step as the load progresses.

The principal object of my invention, and stating 'it generally, is to provide a brickmaking machine by which the cost of manufacture of bricks maybe materially decreased, in that handling of the brick-forming material and the finished product will be saved to a large extent, and by which re-pressing will be unnecessary, and yet the brick produced will be a superior product, and to such end my method consists in the brick machine con structed as hereinafter s eciiied and claimed.

The type of brick mac ine in which I have and in the case of the machine shown the molds 1 are in the face or periphery of a drum-or wheel 2, that is mounted upon a horizon-tal shaft 3 j ournaled in bearings in a suitable framework, to which shaft, for the purpose of revolving the mold,

type, in the drawings,

gears 4 in an ordinary manner. Each mold 1 has its side walls formed, as usual, by

plunger 5, the plunger having attached to it a radially inwardly extendingprod or stem 6 guided by a rathe rim or circumference of the w eel or drum. The weight of the plungers is such that when the are at the top of the wheel, they will norma ly descend to and remain in their innermost or mold-bottom' forming position, at which Vtime the material for forming the bricks `is placed in them and they are moved'radially outward to expel the finished brick when they reach the bottom of l contact with the cam, are

.air as described, is, of course,

the wheel, by means of a push-out cam 7 which is in the path of the inner ends of the plunger rods or stems 6, and which by their movedy radially outward. In order to prevent the outward movement Vof the plungers dislodging the mold liners, the latter are'provided with shoulders which pass under overhanging flanges or ribs 8 on the inner sides of the mold-forming cavities of the wheel. To enable the ingress of air to the mold, and its egress therefrom beneath the plunger, which is necessary for the proper movements of the plunger, a passage from the mold beneath the plunger is provided; as by means of a longitudinal channel or groove 9 in the side of the plunger rod or stein. Besides the exit of .air from the mold to permit the inward movement of the plunger, the discharge or outward passage of air from the mold is of great importance for the proper formation of the brick, so that it will be free from air spaces, and the fit of the plunger with the sides of the mold is such that any air between the material in the mold and the mold bottom, will be forced past the plunger and beneath the same and into the air groove and channel in the side of the plunger rod or stem. The space between the lunger and the side of the mold while su lcient to permit the assage of so sight that none of the material for forming the bricks can find its way between the plunger and the mold. y

In machines ofthe type to which my invention relates which are on the market, the

`brick-forming material is delivered to the molds from afhopper, which besides'other objectionable features, has the objection that it involves the presence of a large mass of material over the mold, which imposes thereon an objectionable amount of pressure or weight. I have invented a feeding mechanism by which practically no greater weight or pressure 1s applied to the wheel from the brick-forming material than that from the quantity necessary to form a brick. Said feeding mechanism comprises a vertical boX or chamber 10, that internally is circular in cross section, whose internal diameter is equal to the length of a mold or brick to be formed, in which is a vertical shaft which at its lower end or contiguous to the top of the wheel, has several helical wings or blades 1l like those of a screw propeller, and above said blades a short section of spiral or screw conveyers 12 the pitch of the win i or blades 11 being greater than the pitch o the thread of de ivered to the to of the box or chamber 10 from a horizonta y arran ed cylinder 13, through which the materia is forcedA or fed by a screw conveyer 14. The pur ose of the helical blades at the bottom of t e box or chamber, is to positively force the brickformingr material into the mold beneath with some degree of pressure, and the rovision of the screw conveyer 12 on the shaft in the upper part of the chamber above the blades or vanes is to deliver the material gradually and not in a mass or lump to the blades or vanes, so as to enable the latter to properly handle or work upon the material to force it into the mold and prevent the clogging which would occur were the material dumped or dropped upon the vanos or blades in a lump or mass. The feeding box or chamber is supported at its lower end from the wheel or drum 2, and to reduce wear and friction to a minimum, wheels or rollers 15 are mounted at the bottom of the box or chamber, that rest u on the periphery of the wheel and support t e bottom edge ofthe box or chamber out of contact therewith.

To prevent the escape of material from the box or chamber as the wheel moves its molds from beneath the same, and to provide means for smoothing or finishing 0H the outer surfaces of the lumps or blocks of material deli'vered to the molds, I employ a smoothing device which consists of a block or box 16,

y which rests against and closely fits the periphery of the wheel for the distance of several molds, beginning at a point on the side ofthe box or chamber at which the molds pass beneath the latter, and on its lower corner contiguous to such side of the box or chamber, the block or box 16 has a lip 17 that pro'ects beneath the contiguous lower edge of tlie box or chamber wall, and constitutes a knife or cutter that prevents the passa e of any material from the box or chamber a ove the plane or surface of the to of the mold. The wall of the box beneath W ich the lip 17 is situated extends at a right angle or sub'- stantially a right angle to the periphery or surfaceof the mold, and the upper or outer surface of the lip 17 is inclined or beveled, and the contiguous surface of thebox wall is similarly formed so that a tight joint is formed between the lip and the box wall, which prevents the exudation of material from the box. Thus no material is permitted to escape from the feeding box or chamv ber which would be objectionable not only as as a compressing and smoothl soiling the machine, but because of its requiring extra handling. The smoothing device is preferably 'in the form of a box so that it may be heated, as by the admission of steam, so as to impart heat to the material in the molds, which is desirable for the proper manipulation of the material. ing the material in the molds, the mold wheel is also heated by the heat applied to the smoothing device, and this heating of the mold wheel is of special importance in operating upon such materiall as sand andy llme. The pur ose of this heating is vto preventthe materia sticking to the mold wheels and the die surfaces, which it will do if they are cold. The material after it has been placed in the molds as described, and its outer surface smoothed or finished off, is next subjected to powerful pressure, and for this purpose I preferably employ a series of rotary dies 18, preferably agreeing in number with the numer of molds, and secured to the circumference or periphery of a wheel or drum 19 of the sameA diameter as the mold wheel, and said die carrying drum is eared to and receives motion from the mo d wheel shaft by a train of gears 20 so proportioned as to se-` cure absolute timing o the revolution of the molds and dies, and since the parts are subjected to enormous pressures, the shafts of the two drums are strongly tied together by frames 21. The shafts of the ltwo wheels or Besides heatdrums are mounted in ball bearings, so as to each mold at the outer corners are slightlyl beveled or chamfered outwardly, and each die on its front and rear sides is provided with a recess or groove 22. Thus at the oints where there might be contacting surfaces," the contiguous surfaces of mold walls and dies relatively recede or move away from each other. Of course the material engaging surfaces of the dies and of the plungers are flat, in order that the brick may have flat surfaces. To prevent the brick-forming material adhering to either the mold wheel or the dies, I preferably apply to the surfaces of each, glycerin, oil, water, or any other liquid that will answer the purpose, and a convenient and satisfactory way. of so applying such liquid, is to employ a device 23, similar to the familiar rollerl inking fountain of printing presses, the rollers of which may be readily driven by friction from the peripheries of the mold or die-carrying wheel.

Situated beneath the mold wheel, there is anl off-bearing mechanism which consists of three belts, side by side, a comparatively wide central one 24, preferabl of -some suitable fabric, such as Gandy elting, and a comparatively narrow one -at each' side, preferably of steel, the total width 'of the three beltsA being about equal to the length of .a brick, so as to well support the latter, and

at one end-all three belts pass over a common .wheel or pulley 26, to which power isvap lied to drive the belts, and at the other en the middle belt which is shorter than the other two, has its own pulley or wheel 27, and the other two belts are mounted on a common wheel or pulley 28. Also passing over the pulley 28 is-a belt 29, which liesbetween the two belts 25, and .whose width is the same as that of the belt 24, and to said belt 29 the bricks are -delivered by the belts 25. From the ulley 28 the brick-supporting portion of the elt 29 passes over a pulley. 30 journaled in a horizontally movable frame 31, and from the pulley 30, said belt runs to a second pulley 32 also journaled in said horizontally movable frame 31, and from said second pulley 32, said belt 29 passes to and overa stationarily mounted pulle 33, and` from the latter the belt goes bac to the ulley 28, which is .also stationarily journale lt will be seen that by moving the pulley journaling frame back and forth horizontally,`the pulley 30 and the portion of the belt passing thereover may be caused to occupy different positions horizontally, and thus the point or place of deposit of bricks traveling over the elt 29, may be readily changed, and yet the belt be at all times maintained in a taut condition. For the convenient shifting or movement of the pulley carrying frame, a handlever 34 is provided which is .connected by a link 35 to some convenient point of the frame. w

I prefer to deliver the bricks from the belt 29 to a car, so that said belt 29 thus becomes a loadn device, the car 36 being preferably mounte on tracks that run at right angles to the direction of travel of the loading belt, and it being moved horizontally as fast as a row of bricks is deposited thereon by the operation of the loading belt, and for so movingit, l rovide a hand lever 37 which is rovide with two oppositely extending pu ing dogs orl pawls 38 that engage pins or teeth 39 on the side of the car at fixed intervals apart, corresponding to the dimension of the brick, which determines the extent of horizontal movement of the car. But one of the pullingdogs or pawls operates at a time, so that when the car has been moved in one direction by the use of oneof said dogs or pawls as far as is convenient, it is moved in the opposite direction by the otherdog or pawl, so that there is no necessity after the able it to receive'one row of bricks horizonhas been moved in one direction to ent commencement for the reception of the next horizontal row of bricks, because the nexty horizontal row of bricks can be deposited on the car by moving \it inthereverse direction step by ste by means of the other pulling dog. Besi es moving the car horizontally to enable one rowv of bricks vafter another to be deposited thereon, l provide for moving the car vertically, to enable one row of bricks after another to be placed upon a previously deposited row, and'this is conveniently done by mounting the car tracks upon a vertically moving platform 40, which is supported on a iston 41 of an ordinary hydraulic lift 42. t will be seen that I rovide for either such manipulation of the oading belt or of the car as to enable the loading of the latter in alldirections required to placeuthe bricks in rows transversely, longitudinally and vertically, Without any manual handling of the bricks whatever, and that the operation of loading the car can be done most expeditiously.

The rollers 15 besides being anti-'friction sup orts for the feeding box or chamber, also per'orm the useful ofiice of maintaining the ceding box or chamber in proper position with reference to the mold, by confining their sidewise or lateral movement, and for this purpose the rollers 15 extend into annular grooves in the mold wheel, or overlap the same on op osite sides and bear upon circumferentia shoulders, or flanges, 43, on the respective sides of the mold Wheel, which shoulders may be formed by being cast interal with the mold wheel, or separately ormed and bolted, lor otherwise secured thereto.

Because of the enormous ressure to which l. am enabled to subject t e brick-forming material in the mold, and the gradual application ofsuclr pressure, l am able to compact or compress the material to -a very large degree, thus, for example, pressing it to such an extent as to reduce the thickness of Ya mass of material in the mold from inches to 2?,- inches, the latter dimension beingthe thickness of the finished brick, and in this caseas will be readily understood, the protrusion or entrance of the die into its mold being one inch. This great degree of compression is of especial value in the manufacture of bricks from sand and lime,- and results in the reduction of a brick that is exceedingly (ense, hard, and from which air and -moisture are practically expelled.

The bricks-as delivered from lthe molds lie flatwise on the off-bearing belt, and when they are delivered to the c`ar, they are turned i to the plane of the surface on which t e brick is deposited that the brick will be' at a greater angle than 45o from the horizontal as it passes downward off the belt, but if necessary, the belt with its pulley 30 lcould be moved longitudinally enough to tilt the brick being deposited to a vertical. position in con`- I a previously delivered brick, orv

or rum 19, to which theyare attached as l by means of bolts asy shown, which pass through flanges on the dies and Wheel.

I preferto use glycerin to prevent th'eadf hesion of the brick-forming material to the surfaces engaged thereby, because glycerin, besides being a splendid lubricant, does not discolor the brick nor congeal.,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a brick machine, the combination of a source of supply of brick forming material, a mold-carrier, a feed box or chamber between the source ofl supply and the mold` carrier, material engaging feeding screw form means in the feed box, and a ressure applying device consisting of helica blades or vanes situated contiguous to the mold carrier and of greater pitch than said screwform feeding means whereby a striking and compressing edect is produced.

2. In a brick machme the combination of a traveling mold carrier, a feed box, and antifriction devices interposed between the feed box and the mold carrier.

8. In a brick machine the combination of a traveling mold carrier, a feed box, and rollers on opposite sides of the feed box bearing on supporting surfaces on the carrier.

4. In a brick machine the combination of a traveling mold carrier, a feed box, and rollers on opposite sides of the feed box overlapping the opposite sides of the carrier, and engagmg supporting surfaces on the carrier.

5. Ina brick machine the combination of a traveling mold carrier, a feed box, and a scra er consisting of a lip interposed between the eed box and the contiguous surface of the mold carrier, the lip and feed box having similarly inclined engaging surfaces, said surfaces terminating in a single cutting edge or scraper.

6. In a brick machine the combination of a traveling mold carrier, a feed box, and a smoothing block having a scraper consistin of a lip interposed between a wall of the fee box and the conti uous surface of the mold carrier, said wall o thefeed box extending at a right angle or substantially a right angle to said surface of the mold carrier, and the'engagin surfaces of the lip and Wall being incline and meeting in ,an edge.

7. In a brick machine' the combination of a traveling mold carrier, afeed box, a smoothing block having a scraper consisting of a lip 8. In a brick machine for lthe manufac-v ture of bricks from sand and lime, the combination of a rotary series of molds, a rotary seriesl of dies that respectively enter into and compress the material within the molds, and a rotary support for the dies to which they are rigidly attached, the contiguous end surfaces of a die and mold being complementarily grooved and chamfered to permit them to pass each other.

9 In a brick machine the combination of'a traveling mold carrier, having a mold whose bottom is formed by a movable plunger, a guiding stem for the plunger, and an air passage or channel leading from the bottom of the mold along the stem.

10. In a brick machine, the combination of brick forming mechanism, a horizontally shiftable brick delivery device, and a vertically movable brick receiver.

11. In a brickl machine, the combination of brick forming mechanism, a horizontally shiftable brick delivery device, a brick receiver, and means for shifting the position of the brick receiver step by step.

12. -In a brick machine, the combination of brick forming mechanism, a horizontally shiftable brick delivery device, a brick receiver, and means for shifting the position of the brick receiver step by step horizontally in a direction crosswise of the direction in which the brick delivery device is shiftable.

13. In aAbrick machine, the combination of brick forming mechanism, a horizontally shiftable brick delivery device, a brick receiver, means for moving the brick receiver horizontally step by step, and means for moving the brick receiver vertically.

14. In a brick machine the combination of brick forming mechanism, a brick delivery device shiftable horizontally and a brick receiver shiftable vertically and horizontally.

15. In a brick machine, the combination of brick-forming mechanism, two brick-supporting traveling devices so arranged that bricks may be delivered from one to the jother, and a traveling brick-supporting means contiguous to both offsaid other devices, where bricks' pass from one to -the other.

16. In a brick machine, the combination the point Where to t of brick forming mechanism, a delivery apron, u second apron traveling contiguous to the end of said first mentioned apron and delivering bricks thereto, and a brick-supporting surface contiguous to said aprons at bricks are delivered from one 1e other.

17. ln a brick machine7 the combination of' brick-forming mechanism, two brick-carrying aprons arranged end to end from one of which bricks are delivered to the other, and a belt at each side of the brick-delivering apron and extending alongside the other at the place Where bricks are delivered from one to the other.-

1S. The combinationl of a delivery apron', stationarily and shiftably mounted rollers over which said apron passes, a second apron traveling contiguous to one arily mounted rollers, and delivering articles of the stationl to the first-,mentioned apron, and a belt at each side of ysaid second named apron, and extending alongside of said first named apron.

l 19. In a sand lime brick machine, the combination of a -traveling series of molds, a traveling series of dies that respectivelyT enter into and compress the material Within the molds, a lubricator for said dies and a heating and smoothing block contiguous to the molds to maintain a temperature to prevent the formed bricks from sticking to said lubricated dies,

In testimony have hereunto set that Iclaim the foregoing my hand.

JNo. F. UHLHoRN.

CHAs. J. WILLIAMSON,

`Witnesses: l F. J. EHLERS. 

